Editorial: Don’t keep delaying state cuts

The State of Dysfunction is alive and well and masquerading as the state of New York. And just when you think things can’t get any worse, along come state legislators.

The State of Dysfunction is alive and well and masquerading as the state of New York. And just when you think things can’t get any worse, along come state legislators.

They returned to Albany on Tuesday to deal with the state’s financial crisis and managed to accomplish absolutely nothing. Oh, wait, they did do one thing — they spent nearly $100,000 of your money doing nothing. That includes a per diem fee of $140 each for the 212 lawmakers, plus food, lodging and travel costs for the one-day trek to Albany.

This is outrageous. Taxpayers should contact their state legislators today and demand that they work with Gov. David Paterson to make cuts sooner — not later — because if they don’t, our financial condition will only get worse.

That particularly goes for Senate Republicans, who are playing politics rather than acting in the best interest of state taxpayers.

In a last-ditch effort to flex some muscle — the GOP loses its Senate control come January — lame duck Majority Leader Dean Skelos got the governor to suspend any cuts in the current budget at least until the new year. Skelos has insisted that midyear cuts shouldn’t be made without having the governor’s full proposal for the 2009-2010 fiscal year in hand.

Skelos is wrong. Putting off this problem will only make things worse.

Ignoring this state’s financial problems is what got us into this mess in the first place. Since 1990, state debt has ballooned from $14.4 billion to a record $55 billion. And it continues to grow.

Paterson wants to deal with the problem sooner rather than later. Legislators should work with him, and taxpayers should call and tell them so.

Observer-Dispatch

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